Reign In Life: 90 Powerful Inspirations For Extraordinary Breakthroughs (27 page)

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Authors: Joseph Prince

Tags: #Devotional, #Grace, #Joseph Prince

BOOK: Reign In Life: 90 Powerful Inspirations For Extraordinary Breakthroughs
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Do you see, my friend? It is not the preaching of wrath, fiery indignation, and judgment that will cause people’s hearts to turn back to God. This comes through a revelation of His immense goodness, grace, and mercy. When you catch a glimpse of that, like Carrie, you cannot help but be overwhelmed by all that He is, and this will lead to true repentance. Let people come to church to enjoy God’s goodness, because when they are impacted by His
grace
, true repentance and holiness will surely follow.
Today’s Thought
The more I grow in my revelation of God’s immense and unyielding love and goodness toward me, the more my heart will turn to God and His ways of grace. That is true repentance
.
Today’s Prayer
Father, thank You that my relationship with You is based on Your perfect love for me and not my imperfect love for You. Draw my heart and open my eyes to see Your immense and unyielding love and goodness for me. Remove any wrong beliefs that have kept me in fear of condemnation and judgment from You. I believe that as You flood my heart every day with Your unconditional love, You are transforming me effortlessly from the inside out. Amen
.
…Your gentleness has made me great
.
P
SALM
18:35
The L
ORD
is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy
.
P
SALM
103:8
Today’s Scripture
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think
.
R
OMANS
12:2
NLT
W
hen you hear preaching declaring that you need to repent, is your first impression of repentance something that involves mourning and sorrow? If we are to repent, it is important that we know what the word “repent” means in the first place. It is the Greek word
metanoeo
, which simply means “to change one’s mind.”
1
Repentance just means changing your mind.
This means that even if we do not use the word “repent” all the time on God’s people, every time they sit under anointed preaching of His Word, repentance is still occurring—their minds are being changed about their old beliefs that held them in bondage and receiving the truth that liberates them. Even as you are reading this book, repentance is going on. You are renewing your mind with the good news of Jesus. You are becoming more and more conscious of His finished work and your righteousness in Christ. When you begin to receive the revelation that you are no longer under the old covenant of law, but are now under the new covenant of grace, the Bible calls that repentance!
I want to share a praise report from Dave, who resides in Dallas. His story demonstrates how the truth liberates our minds from old beliefs that keep us in bondage and rob us of joy and victory in our lives:
For a long time, my wife and I believed that though we were saved by grace, it was through our own efforts that we could become the Christians we were called to be. We sat under a ministry that taught you had to walk out your Christian life by doing “good works,” so we both served in the children’s ministry, led Bible study, served the Holy Communion, tithed, and worked at vacation Bible schools during the summer months. We did all this because we were taught that it would “please” God. The sad thing was that the more we tried to “please” God, the less we enjoyed serving Him. Eventually, it became so much like work that we all but stopped serving and became resigned to living a less-than-fulfilling Christian life
.
Then, just over a year ago, we came across your television broadcast. We listened hungrily to what you shared and knew that this was the message and revelation that would change us as Christians
.
Every night of the next month, my wife would read aloud excerpts from one of your teaching resources, and we would be amazed at the teachings, examples, and revelations that were in the book (and that would transform our lives). We would discuss them until late at night marveling at the revelation of God’s grace and love. The power of those revelations in the book began a process that is still continuing today. For example, all the thoughts we had about what would please God were radically changed. No longer were we living under a cloud of condemnation because we didn’t read the Bible long enough, didn’t repent and pray enough, didn’t serve enough, or didn’t give enough to enjoy the blessings of God. Faith and love for the Lord just arose in our hearts when we discovered that it wasn’t about us at all, but about the finished work of Jesus on the cross, that it was His righteousness and His righteousness alone that qualified my wife and I for all the blessings of God
.
Joy returned to our lives and our relationship with each other changed. No longer were we condemning each other, but loving each other as we experienced God loving us. It changed our relationship with Him and continues to impact our family to this day, as we continue to sit under the ministry of grace. Moreover, the joy of serving has returned to us as it is now an outflow of what God has poured into us through His grace. We no longer see serving Him as being a “work” but an honor and privilege. We are so grateful to Him for leading us as a couple to feed on His love for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ!
Do you see that what you believe about God powerfully impacts your entire life? When you allow the truth of His love and grace to replace wrong beliefs about Him in your mind, you will find joy, fulfillment, and victory replacing defeat, exhaustion, and bondage in all areas of your life. Keep hearing and feeding on the word of His grace, and like Dave, see Him transform you, your family, and your ministry from glory to glory!
Today’s Thought
I choose to allow God to transform me into a new person by letting the truths of His love and grace replace wrong beliefs about Him
.
Today’s Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You that my mind is being renewed as I learn to anchor my thoughts and emotions on Your unshakable Word. No matter what I may be feeling or thinking, help me to always go to Your Word to see my situation as You see it through the lens of Your grace, and to believe what You say. I believe that You are transforming me into a new person as I let the truth of Your grace change what I believe and the way I think. Amen
.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper
.
P
SALM
1:1–3
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh
.
P
ROVERBS
4:20–22
Today’s Scripture
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God
.
H
EBREWS
6:1
E
ver kept your eye on the clock while you prayed or read your Bible? Ever felt relieved when the clock showed that you could stop (because you have diligently done your part to merit God’s righteousness) and get on with the rest of your day?
My friend, if you pray because you think that praying makes you right with God, that’s a dead work. But if you pray because you
are
right with God and you know that He loves you, there is power there. Can you see the difference? It is the same activity—prayer—but the bases and motivations for doing it are completely different. One is a dead work while the other is a living work born of grace.
Similarly, if you study the Bible because you think that doing so makes you right with God, you have missed it. That’s a dead work. There will be no revelation because you are not flowing with the Spirit of truth, who bears witness with your spirit that you are already right with God. But if you study the Bible because you know that you
are
right with God and that the Bible is a love letter from the One who made you right, treasures from His Word will open up to you.
Look again at today’s Scripture. Of all the things that make up the foundation of our faith, the Bible exhorts us to “repent from dead works.” Dead works are the so-called “good works” that people do to try to gain righteousness with God. And whether you live your Christian life in dead works or in faith toward God through a revelation of God’s grace can mean the difference between life and death.
Wilson is someone who can testify to this. Writing to me from Australia, he told me how he was handed one of my books by a woman he did not know. She just walked up to him and said she felt led to give it to him. Imagine how that must have sounded to someone who had been burned by legalistic teachings and was trying to get as far away from God as he could for the last two decades. His curiosity piqued, Wilson opened the book…and embarked on a precious journey that has brought healing, wholeness, liberty, and a new, loving relationship with God. Here is Wilson’s story of that journey in his own words:
Pastor Prince, what can I say? Your book changed my life! After running from God for the last twenty years, I finally stopped and turned back to God because of the way this book explains who God really is and what Jesus did for us on the cross. I now know (and am still learning daily) who I am in Christ
.
Through your book, I have discovered that Christianity is not a religion like I thought it was and experienced before. Now I know that God is alive, He truly loves me, and is for me. This is the best thing that has happened to me!
Furthermore, I have given up smoking by following the ways you mentioned in your book and on some DVDs—to look to Jesus as my righteousness and declare I am righteous in Him even if that is the last thing I feel at that moment. You showed me that no matter what I have done or do, Jesus still loves me, and it’s because of this that I have been able to give up smoking. I couldn’t give it up through my own efforts before, but through resting in Him—His love, His righteousness—I have. Besides the cigarette addiction, I have also been set free from twenty years of drug and alcohol abuse and am now free of paranoid thoughts too
.
I have also just enrolled in an online Bible college because now I’m hungry to know Him. I get your teachings on Facebook every day, which help me a great deal. Thank you for being obedient to God’s call on your life. You have helped make the doors to the church even wider for new Christians and also for those who have walked away
.
Do you see what an amazing change knowing and believing right about God (and how He deals with us today) can bring? Listen, my friend, God does not want you in dead works—depending on your own efforts to please Him and qualify for His blessings. God wants you having and operating out of a personal and loving relationship with Him, not out of a sense of religious obligation. Dead works will bring you into bondage because it’s all dependent on your own efforts to please God. It will steal the life and joy right out of your Christian walk, like it did for Wilson many years ago.
Today, realize that God’s Word exhorts us to repent (change our minds) from dead works and believe the gospel. How do you do this? See the cross. See how God loves you so much that He sent Jesus, who came down to where you were to bring you up to where He is—something no amount of your self-effort can ever do. Like Wilson, see Jesus’ obedience making you righteous (Rom. 5:19), and praise Him for His marvelous grace! Enjoy His wonderful presence today when you come to Him in prayer or read His Word. Let Him fill your heart, mind, and body with His grace, peace, wholeness, and life.
Today’s Thought
When I pray or read the Word knowing I am already right with God and that He loves me, there is power there and His Word will open up to me
.
Today’s Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You that because Your obedience at the cross makes me righteous, I can leave behind all dead works and come into Your presence. I can enjoy communing with You every day. I thank You that I can come to You freely in prayer regardless of what I have or have not done, and that I can expect You to speak to me through Your Word when I study the Bible. I believe that You want to have a relationship with me and fill my heart with Your grace, peace, wisdom, and joy. Jesus, I praise You for Your marvelous grace. Amen
.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

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